A Walk in the Park
by Viola Blake
Summary: Unknown gunmen put Grace in the line of fire. Danny is less than pleased.
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: Child in dangerous situation, language, violence

Pairings: Gen-No pairings in this story but this is the first story in a series that will eventually be slash

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Hawaii 5-0 or The Sentinel.

Notes: This is the first story I've written in about six years so I hope I'm not too rusty. This fic is also un-betaed as I have not yet found a beta reader. I hope you'll give it a try anyway!

"Can we have pizza for dinner, Danno?"

"Pizza? We just had pizza."

Grace shook her head. "No, Danno. No, we didn't just-that was weeks ago."

Danny stifled a smile at his daughter's exasperated tone. "Hmm, I think you're made of pizza, Gracie. That can't be healthy."

"Danno!" Exasperation quickly turned to whining.

"I suppose we could have some pizza."

"Yay!" He watched her fists pump in the air via the rearview mirror and smiled. Danny's good humor faded as he took note of the black SUV that had been following them since shortly after he picked Grace up from school.

"Is your seat belt buckled, Grace?"

"Of course."

"Good." He was probably over-reacting but-He glanced at the mirror again and started to reach for his cell phone. The SUV suddenly accelerated until it was practically attached to the Camaro's bumper. Danny dropped the phone and grabbed the wheel with both hands just as the SUV put on more speed and nudged the rear bumper.

"Danno!" Grace's voice was panicked.

"It's okay, Grace. Just hang on." Danny stomped on the accelerator and pulled ahead. The SUV swerved slightly at the loss of contact but accelerated quickly, pulling close to Danny's car once again.

"Danno, I'm scared."

"I know, monkey, but it's going to be okay." At that moment he spotted a fallen tree the road in front of them. It's large trunk spread across both lanes of the street. Danny only had time to aim for the thinner branches at the top of the tree and brake hard as the car went through the thick foliage. The car thumped violently over branches before sliding off the road and spinning most of the way around. It was only seconds before the vehicle slammed sideways into another tall tree and stopped.

"Danno!" Grace's voice pulled him back from the brink of unconsciousness. "Danno, are you okay?" Grace was crying and leaning into the front seat as Danny opened his eyes.

His vision swam for a moment and he could feel blood dripping down the side of his face. "Are you hurt, Grace?" His head was pounding.

She shook her head and crawled further into the front seat.

Danny reached down for the knife he'd taken to keeping in a boot sheath at Steve's behest, awkwardly reaching around the deployed airbag in front of him to pull it out. He used the knife to pop the air bag, replaced the knife in its sheath, and then pulled Grace into his lap. He craned his neck to look out the now broken windows in the direction of the road. He could hear voices rapidly approaching. They would have a line of sight on Danny and Grace in moments.

"Come on, Grace. We've got to go." Danny opened the door and got out, pulling Grace after him. They headed further into the woods at a run, ducking between trees and jumping over roots.

Danny heard shouting and seconds later gunshots hit the ground to their right. "Grace!" He grabbed his daughter and lifted her up without breaking stride. He darted around a bunch of dense bushes and pushed himself faster until the voices faded. There weren't any more gunshots.

Grace was clinging to his neck and sobbing quietly. "Hey, monkey, are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

"That's good." He knelt down and pulled back enough that he could see her face. "We're going to be just fine. We got away and we're going to stay ahead of them. I'll keep you safe, Gracie."

Grace sniffed but nodded and Danny smiled at her. "You're so brave, monkey." He stood up. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"It's in my backpack in the car, Danno."

He sighed. "That's okay, just means we'll have to do a bit of walking." He took her hand and they started moving again, this time at a fast walk. "Steve would probably be glad we got to take a nice hike."

"I don't think I like this hike, Danno." She looked up at her father.

He smiled at her again and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Yeah, me neither."

Every few minutes, Danny surveyed their surroundings, watching and listening carefully for their pursuers.

Father and daughter walked in silence for along time before Grace asked, "Where are we going?"

Danny scanned the trees and said, "We're in the middle of a wilderness area, part of one of the national parks. There's a road that runs through the park and we should only be a few miles from it by now. Once we get to the road we'll follow it back to the park entrance."

"You're sure, Danno?" Grace sounded skeptical.

"Yes, Grace. I do actually know-" He stopped walking and froze.

"Danno?"

"Shh." There were voices, quiet but gaining. "Walk fast, Gracie, and be very quiet." He pulled them in a slightly different direction as they began walking again, moving faster than they had been.

Soon after they changed direction, it started to grow dark. A little later, Grace whispered, "Danno?"

"Yeah, Grace?"

She tripped over a root and would have fallen but for Danny's grip on her hand and quick move to grab her around the waist. "Are you okay, monkey?" It wasn't the first time he'd heard her trip.

"It's dark, Danno. I can't see the roots."

Danny glanced up at the trees around them. He hadn't really noticed just how dark it was. "That's okay." He picked her up and kept walking. "I can see for both of us, Grace."

Eventually, they reached the park's gravel road. Grace had long since fallen asleep in her father's arms and Danny walked along the edges of the trees where they wouldn't immediately be spotted by oncoming traffic. He walked for a long time, constantly on guard for the sound of their pursuers.

Morning light was just beginning to filter through the dense foliage when they finally arrived at the park's Welcome Center. A park ranger stood near the building's entrance watching as Danny approached carrying a still sleeping Grace.

"Good morning," the ranger called when they were close enough she wouldn't have to shout.

Danny's voice was raspy from dehydration and exhaustion. "Mornin'."

"I'm Park Ranger Sally Collins. You look exhausted. Come on in." She held the door open for Danny while he carried Grace into the Welcome Center. "I'm going to guess that you're Detective Williams."

Danny spun to face her and stared, body tense. How could she know that?

Sally just smiled. "HPD found your car early last night. They've been searching for you two."

Danny relaxed a little and laid Grace on a bench near the wall. "Call them and tell them we're here and that we're being followed by three armed men."

Sally's eyes widened slightly and she grabbed for the phone while Danny lowered himself to the bench beside Grace. Now that he'd stopped moving, every muscle in his body throbbed and his already pounding headache increased tempo. He watched Grace, her breath slow and calm in sleep. Slowly, he became aware of a soft thumping, comforting in it's steadiness. It was calming and he focused on the sound. They were okay now. He could finally relax.

Someone had a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. "Danny? Can you hear me?"

He blinked suddenly gritty eyes and stared up at where Steve hovered over him. "That was fast." He felt tired and confused.

Steve snorted but asked, "Are you okay? The park ranger said you were unresponsive."

Danny scrunched his nose. "I'm fine, just really, really, unbelievably tired."

Steve stared. He didn't appear to believe Danny.

Sally appeared next to Steve and said, "Oh, good. You're back with us."

Danny shook his head and immediately regretted it, as the pounding grew worse. "What are you talking about?" He glanced over at Grace who was still sleeping beside him.

"I called your name three times and shook you but you didn't respond. I was worried you might be having a seizure or something." Sally smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Okay." Danny's expression was doubtful.

Steve patted his shoulder again and turned to wave the paramedics over as they walked in the door.

"Any idea who was chasing us?" Danny asked.

Steve turned back to him and stepped to the side to make room for the EMTs. "I was hoping you knew. HPD's been searching the park for hours. They found shell casings and an abandoned SUV but no perps. They're still looking."

Danny nodded before turning his attention to the paramedic who seemed to be intent on making his headache worse via flashlight and interrogation. He answered the paramedic's questions regarding his injuries as a second EMT gently woke up Grace to examine her. Steve leaned impatiently against the wall, arms crossed and an irritated scowl on his face that Danny knew wasn't meant for any of the people currently in the room with him. Steve really didn't like it when anyone messed with his team.

It wasn't long before the paramedics pronounced Grace to be in perfect health and Danny to have a slight concussion. "You should really go to the hospital, Detective. Just to make sure."

Danny shook his head. "I'm fine."

"You should go get checked out, Danny." Steve was still hovering off to one side.

"Though the irony of this conversation is not lost on me, I'm fine, Steve. I don't need to go to the hospital."

"Don't you think that's kind of setting a bad example." Steve smiled sweetly and glanced significantly at Grace who was listening to their conversation.

"Are you sure you're okay, Danno? Your head was bleeding a lot." Grace's eyes were still wide with anxiety.

Danny glared at Steve. "I'm fine, monkey, but Steve is right. We should go to the hospital just to make sure."

"Ok." Grace looked so relieved that Danny felt a little guilty for almost bypassing a check up.

Danny carefully stood. His whole body was one big ache. "I think Steve can give us a ride, don't you, Grace?" Danny would happily skip a ride in an ambulance if at all possible.

Grace smiled happily and nodded, bouncing to her feet.

"Sure." Steve led the way out of the Welcome Center to his truck and all three climbed in. They waved good-bye to Sally as they pulled out of the parking lot.

Danny tilted his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. The truck's seats were bliss after hiking all night.

"Don't go to sleep, Danno." Steve darted a concerned glance at his partner but quickly returned his eyes to the road.

Danny sighed. "You're evil. You know that, right? Don't go to sleep, he says. I've been walking all night after being in a car wreck and chased by unknown armed gunmen-" He turned slightly in his seat and opened his eyes to say to Grace, "which was very scary but you don't need to worry anymore, Gracie, because you're safe now-" then returned his attention to Steve to say, "I think I'm more than slightly justified in being just a little bit tired."

"Concussion" was Steve's only response, though he smirked as he said it. If Danny was complaining then it was unlikely that he was too badly injured.

Danny sighed again and leaned back but kept his eyes open. "Torture. That's what it is. Nice comfortable seat and I can't even take a quick nap."

"Poor, baby. I called Rachel while the paramedics were looking at you guys and told her you were okay." He reached in his shirt pocket and then held out Danny's phone. "You should probably call her yourself though. I'm sure she'll want to meet you at the hospital."

Danny took the phone. "You have my phone."

"Yes, Master of the Obvious, I grabbed it when we found your car."

"Thanks." Danny took a fortifying breath and dialed. He was not looking forward to the coming conversation. "Hey, Rachel. We're okay. On our way to the hospital to get checked out. Grace is fine. The paramedics looked her over before we left. I'm fine too, maybe a very mild concussion. It's probably nothing."

Steve snorted at Danny's qualifiers but didn't say anything.

Danny glared at him anyway. "Yeah, just a precaution. Uh-huh. Here she is." He held the phone out to Grace.

"Mom! I'm okay but Danno got hurt and there were men with guns and they shot at us and we had to walk all night. I was scared but Danno says I was brave and we're okay now. Ok. Ok. Ok, Mom. I love you too." Grace closed the phone and handed it back to her father. "She's going to meet us at the hospital."

Danny shoved the phone in his pocket. "After you've seen the doctor, you're going to have to go home with your mom, monkey. I've got to go to work and find out who those bad guys were."

"But, Danno, I want to stay with you." She threw her arms around him and held on tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. He hated to make her worry. "I know but I have to go to work and you'll be safest with your mom."

"Danno-"

"I know, Gracie, but this is how it has to be. I'll come see you as soon as I can."

Steve pulled the truck to a stop near the front door of the emergency room. "Call me when you're done and I'll pick you up."

Danny climbed out of the truck, then reached back in to help Grace. He closed the door, waved a quick good-bye, and started to turn toward the hospital.

"Hey, Danny," Steve called through the open passenger window.

Danny stepped close to the truck to lean in the window. "Yeah?"

"I didn't want to bring it up in front of Gracie but can you tell me anything about the shooters? We really need to get a description out to HPD in case they actually find someone out there."

Danny nodded. "Right. There were three guys, medium height and build, white, two had dark hair but the third was blonde, 30-40 years old, no facial hair, dark clothes. One of the brunette's had a tattoo on his left forearm, not sure what it was supposed to be."

"Ok, wow, text that to Kono. She'll get the info to HPD. I don't suppose you caught any names while you were at it?"

Danny tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes. "Um, there was a Tolver. The blonde called tattoo guy Tolver a couple times." He reached in his pocket for his phone and quickly texted the info to Kono.

"That's pretty impressive, Danno. Between the concussion, the running, and worrying about Grace you noticed a lot."

Danny shrugged. "People shooting at me while I have my daughter is a pretty memorable occurrence. One I sincerely hope to never, ever repeat. Also, you may have missed this point but-detective." He pointed at himself.

Steve grinned. "I'm gonna have HPD put a couple units on Grace and Rachel until we figure out what's going on here."

Danny gave him a grateful smile. "Great idea. That makes me feel a bit better."

Steve nodded and Danny started to turn away again.

"Hey, Danny."

Danny sighed and faced the truck again. "Yes, Steven."

"Don't leave the hospital without back up. Just in case."

"Fine, fine, whatever will make you leave so I can go get this over with."

Steve grinned and pulled away from the curb.

Danny shook his head and led Grace into the emergency room.


	2. Chapter 2

Three hours later…

Danny was standing in front of the emergency room sign when Steve pulled up. He waited until Danny had climbed in and closed the door before saying, "I thought you weren't going to leave on your own."

"What are you talking about? I didn't go anywhere."

A note of frustration found its way into Steve's voice. "You were outside the hospital, Danny."

"Seriously?"

"Someone tried to kill you, Danny, not ten hours ago. You can't go wandering around alone while they're still out there."

"Wandering around? I was standing less than ten feet from the front door. There was no wandering."

Steve glanced over at his partner frowning. "These guys went after you while you had Gracie. Collateral damage is clearly not a major concern for them. I doubt they'd let your proximity to a hospital slow them down."

Danny stared hard at Steve for a long moment. "Much as I hate to admit this twice in one day, you're right. I'm exhausted and I don't think I even really noticed before how badly hospitals smell. I had to get out of there before it made me sick. I'm still a little nauseous."

"Could be a side effect of the concussion. Did you mention it to the doctor?"

"Yes, mother. I showed him all my boo-boos too. I'm fine, really."

Steve sighed. "Fine, he says. I'm going to remember this the next time you're nagging me about that particular phrase."

"No, no, no, no. Do not go there, Steven. When you say you're fine, that usually means you're bleeding substantially, whereas, I am actually fine. Thanks to you, it was even certified by a doctor. Speaking of which, that was pretty low using Grace to blackmail me into going to the hospital. I'd already seen the paramedics."

"And they told you to go to the hospital."

"Low, Steven, very low."

Steve shrugged.

Danny leaned back in his seat. "What have you found out?" He sat up suddenly. "And what happened to my car?"

Steve snickered. "Your car's at HPD impound. It's evidence."

"Figures."

"The crime lab is running fingerprints from the SUV and ballistics has the shell casings. They'll call when they have something. HPD's been conducting a search for hours and they haven't found the shooters." Steve glanced over at his partner. "Do you think Rachel will give you any problems over this?"

"No idea. I'm choosing not to think about it right now. When I spoke with her at the hospital, she mostly just seemed glad that Grace was okay."

"That's a good sign, right?"

"It's hard to tell with Rachel. Hopefully by the time the word 'custody' pops into her head again, she'll have had time to cool off."

Steve pulled the truck into 5-0's parking area and the men got out and headed inside.

Kono launched herself at Danny as soon as they stepped in the door and wrapped him in a quick hug. "I'm so glad you and Grace are okay."

"Me too, brah." Chin called from the door to his office.

Danny smiled tiredly at his teammates. "We were lucky. Have we got anything on these bastards yet?"

"Actually you guys have great timing. We just got fingerprint matches to all three of our guys from the SUV." Kono moved to the tech table to pull up the relevant information and sent it to the overhead screen. "Meet Avery Tolver, Keegan Jones, and Timothy Smith. All three have records for an assortment of charges ranging from domestic assault to armed robbery. They've been in and out of jail since their teens."

"What's their connection to Danny?" Steve asked.

"None that we could find," Chin answered. "Do they look familiar to you?"

Danny was already shaking his head. "Not at all." He grabbed a seat at the tech table and started pulling up their files. "Maybe they're connected to someone I've arrested."

"Okay, Kono, Chin, and I are going to try to track these guys down now that we have names. Call us if you find anything." Steve headed for the door, still talking. "Don't leave without an escort, Danny."

"You should probably take a nap too. You look like shit." Chin grinned as he followed the others out the door.

"Thanks, man. You're the best," Danny called after him.

Danny had been over the files again and again without finding a single significant connection between himself and the shooters and he was getting very frustrated.

His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket to check the caller ID. He sighed and answered, "Hey, Rachel. How's Grace?"

_"She's doing fairly well all things considered."_ Rachel paused for a long moment, carefully choosing her words. _"How did this happen? Grace could have been killed, Daniel."_

"I know. It scared the hell out of me too but I'm still not sure what I could have done to keep her safer. We were just driving down the road."

Rachel's voice was angry but she kept it under tight control. _"Your job is dangerous."_

"I really can't argue with that when I don't know why it even happened. We've identified the shooters and my team is tracking them down right now. I've been over and over their files and I just can't figure out why they'd want to kill me. At a guess, they were hired by someone else. I just don't know who."

_"Who are they?"_

He probably shouldn't tell her but-Danny waved a hand at the files in front of him even though Rachel couldn't see him. "Their names are Avery Tolver, Keegan Jones, and Timothy Smith. They're all in the system but I've never arrested any of them and I can't find any known associates or family members that I've arrested either."

_"Keegan Jones?"_

Danny tensed at the recognition. "You know him?"

_"Not really."_ Rachel paused. _"Stan had a dinner meeting with a client and a competitor a week ago. The client was Eric Sanchez from the Rosewood Corporation. Ilia Romanof was the competitor. Keegan Jones was Mr. Romanof's driver. I only know his name because the idiot hit on me while Stan, Mr. Romanof, and I were waiting out front of the restaurant for Mr. Sanchez. He was more than a little ridiculous."_

"This may have nothing to do with me then. Stan could be the connection between Keegan and Grace and I."

"_What are you saying?"_ Her voice sounded both angry and frightened.

Danny sighed. "Is there any animosity between Stan and Romanof, Rachel?"

_"I really don't know. Stan doesn't like him. I'm not entirely certain of the reason."_

"I need to talk to Stan, Rachel. Is he there?"

_"He's at work. I'll call him."_

"Tell him to come to headquarters as soon as he can. I'm going to send an HPD unit out to him. If those guys weren't trying to kill me then they were trying to kill Grace, Rachel. If that's true, then you and Stan are in danger too."

_"Kill Grace? That's ridiculous, Daniel!"_

"I really hope so but if it's not, then your whole family is in danger."

Rachel was silent for a long moment before speaking. _"I'll call him and tell him to wait for your officers."_

"Good. That's a good idea."

She hung up without saying anything further and Danny stared at the phone for a moment before calling dispatch and requesting a unit pick up Stan Edwards and take him into protective custody. Next, he called Steve.

_"What's up, Danno? You got something?"_

Danny wearily rested his head in his other hand. "I could be jumping to conclusions here but I'm pretty sure those guys were trying to kill Grace as a message to Stan. I mentioned the perps' names to Rachel and she recognized Jones from a dinner meeting Stan had last week. I'm about to start digging through whatever records I can find and I've got a unit picking up Stan now."

_"Shit! Are you okay, Danno?"_

"I'm fine, just find those guys, Steve."

_"We're on it. We're on our way to another possible location right now."_ He paused. _"Hey, don't go anywhere without us until we know for absolute certain you aren't a target."_

"Sure, fine. I'm busy here anyway."

"_Ok. I'll call you when we've got something."_

"Kay." Danny hung up and rested his head in both hands for a couple minutes. It was an entirely different thing for someone to try to kill a nine-year old girl than it was to try to kill a grown-up police officer. Some days Danny felt like he wasn't doing his job well enough if someone wasn't trying to kill him. Kids were off-limits though. And anyone who made the mistake of going after his child was going to pay. He straightened up, face set with determination, and started digging through any records he could find related to Stan Edwards, Ilia Romanof, and the Rosewood Corporation.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying the story!

Forty-five minutes later, an HPD officer escorted Stan into 5-0's headquarters.

He started talking as soon as he saw Danny. "What's going on? Rachel said you think someone might try to kill me? She said they'd tried to kill Grace? I don't understand what's going on."

Danny stood up from where he'd still been working at the tech desk and ushered Stan into his office. "Calm down. You're safe here and Rachel and Grace are being watched by another HPD unit."

Stan nodded and visibly tried to calm himself. "You have to know, I'd never let anything happen to Grace."

Danny stared at him. "I know you'd do whatever you could and I can hardly talk given the nature of my job. But I don't think my job is the problem this time." He sat down behind his desk. "Tell me about Ilia Romanof."

"You think Romanof has something to do with this?"

"I'm not sure. He's connected to one of the shooters. Can you think of any reason why he'd target you or your family?"

Stan sighed and slumped in his chair. "I just ruined his company."

Danny blinked. "Ok, you're gonna have to explain that."

Stan nodded. "Romanof's company was failing for quite some time. The deal with Sanchez might have been enough to pull him back from bankruptcy but I've known Sanchez for years and my company could offer a better deal than Romanof. There was never really any chance that Sanchez would accept Romanof's proposal but he decided to hear him out anyway. Maybe Romanof was trying to get me to back off. I don't know. The man is strange but I just can't imagine him trying to hurt Grace."

"Ok, what about Sanchez? Did anything about the deal seem suspicious to you? Any other reason he might want to hurt you?"

Stan shook his head. "I can't think of any. I've known Eric for years. We went to school together. I wouldn't call us friends exactly but we were friendly acquaintances. Nothing about the deal seemed strange." He dropped his head into his hands. "I can't believe this is happening."

"We're gonna get these guys, Stan. You know me well enough to know that I have no intention of giving them another opportunity to try to hurt Grace."

Stan nodded and relaxed slightly in his chair. "Rachel's always said you were good at your job."

Danny quirked an eyebrow at that but refrained from comment. That wasn't what she usually said to Danny about his job.

"Are you okay, Danny? I know it's really none of my business but you really don't look well."

Danny snorted and ran a hand over his weary face. "I haven't slept in 48 hours and I have a concussion. I'm running on caffeine and adrenaline right now."

Stan stood. "I'll let you get back to it. Call me if I can help in any way."

Danny stood too and offered Stan his hand. They shook solemnly. "Don't forget to wait for the HPD unit. In fact, don't go anywhere without them until we've tracked down Romanof and his goons."

Stan gave a small smile at Danny's use of the word "goons" and nodded as he left the office.

It wasn't long before Steve, Kono, and Chin arrived pushing a reluctant Avery Tolver ahead of them. Chin and Kono took Tolver to an interrogation room while Steve detoured by the tech desk to check in with Danny. "We found Tolver but there was no sign of Smith and Jones. Got anything?"

Danny looked up from the files in front of him. "Yeah. Stan came over for a chat and it looks like his company outbid Romanof's for a really big contract last week."

Steve dropped a hand on Danny's shoulder and leaned over to look at the files in front of him. "That doesn't seem like a very good reason to kill someone's nine-year old step-daughter."

"There's more. Romanof's company had been on the brink of bankruptcy for a while and the Rosewood contract might have been enough to pull him back from the edge. He put a lot of resources he didn't have into the proposal. Now, his company's going down for sure and I talked to someone at the district attorney's office who told me that the company is under investigation pending fraud charges."

"Okay. This attack seemed awfully personal for revenge for bankruptcy and fraud charges."

Danny nodded. "There's still more. Romanof's son, Gabriel, was also his Chief Financial Officer. He appears to have been responsible for a big chunk of the fraud charges. When he heard that Romanof lost the contract, he locked himself in his bathroom and shot himself in the head. Romanof found the body."

Steve pulled a chair over to sit beside his partner. "So Romanof blames Stan for his son's suicide."

"Maybe. It could explain why he decided to go after Stan's family instead of the man himself." Danny folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head back.

Kono and Chin emerged from the interrogation room and made their way over to the rest of their team. Kono dropped into a chair. "So, according to Tolver, Romanof is batshit crazy."

Daniel rolled his head along the back of the chair to look at her. "Is that the technical term?"

She grinned. "Close enough. Romanof promised Tolver, Jones, and Smith $100,000 each to kill Grace because he believes Stan is responsible for his son's death. There was apparently a lot of ranting that brought Tolver to that conclusion."

"From what Stan told me and given that Romanof's son killed himself right after finding out they'd lost a contract to Stan's company, it doesn't really surprise me that he blames Stan." Danny gestured at the documents on the screen in front of him. "I talked to Romanof's receptionist and she says that his behavior has been increasingly erratic for the past week."

"I don't suppose Mr. Romanof was actually at his office when you called?" Steve asked.

"No, he was not and the receptionist didn't have any idea where he was or when he'd be back."

"I guess we'd better find him then." Steve got to his feet and the rest of his team followed.

Danny's phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

_"Danny, it's Stan._"

"Hey, something wrong?"

_"I'm not sure. I just got back to the house and the other HPD unit isn't responding. I tried calling the house but no one's answering. Even if Rachel isn't there, our maid, Kaylee, should be. She pretty much always answers the phone."_

"Don't go inside. Stay with the officers and let them know we're on our way." Danny hung up the phone and turned to his team. "Romanof's at Rachel's house."

His teammates were silent for a long moment before Chin said, "I'm sure Rachel and Grace are okay, Danny."

Danny just nodded but he didn't particularly look as though he agreed.

"Let's go." Steve was out the door and halfway to his truck as the others caught up. Danny followed Steve while Chin and Kono veered off to Kono's car. All four paused long enough to pull on the bulletproof vests they'd grabbed on their way out of headquarters and check their weapons before climbing into their respective vehicles and driving as quickly as traffic would allow in the direction of the Edwards' home.

"You okay, Danno?" Steve kept his eyes on the traffic he was weaving between as he spoke.

"I'm getting really tired of that question today." Danny was tense and he rolled his shoulders trying to relieve the pressure. "A single day should really not ever involve the sheer volume of inquiries into my physical and mental health that today has consisted of. It really, really shouldn't."

Steve smirked. "Was that the Danno equivalent of "fine?"'

"Yes, Steven. I'm fine."

Steve's smirk faded. "I know you're not." He risked a quick glance at his partner. "I don't think you should go in with us."

"Steve, we are not having this conversation. This is my daughter."

"I know, Danny, that's why I'm not so sure you should be going in." He paused. "I worry."

Danny sighed. "Look, this could all go horribly wrong so fast. I know it could and I know I'm not able to be objective here. " He took a deep breath. "Grace could already be dead. I'm not stupid. I know it's possible. But I have to be there."

"Danny-"

"Please, Steve."

Steve's hands clenched on the wheel but he nodded. "Be careful, okay?"

Danny nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Steve pulled the truck through the open gate and up the driveway to the Edwards' house. Two police cars were already there and Stan was sitting inside one of them. Steve and Danny got out of the truck as Kono and Chin pulled in nearby.

They gathered near the police cars. "Have we heard anything from inside?" Steve asked.

One of the officers responded, "Nothing. There hasn't been any movement near the windows either. Mr. Edwards tried calling the house phone as well as Mrs. Edwards' cell phone but neither were answered. We also can't contact the two officers who were assigned to protective detail."

"Okay." Steve turned to survey the front of the house. All of the curtains were drawn. He turned to Stan. "Is there a way into the house that is less visible than the front door?"

"There's a door on the patio in the back and a door off the garage. The patio entrance is pretty visible from the house though." Stan was still seated in the police car but had turned to lean out so he could hear what was going on.

"Garage it is. Keys?" Steve held his hand out.

Stan dug in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a set of keys. He sorted through them and held one out to Steve. "This one unlocks the garage door."

Steve nodded and turned back to his team. "Let's go." They took off at a jog to the side of the house and then around to the side of the garage.

"Let me go first." Danny kept his voice low.

"Danny-" Steve started.

"I know the layout."

Steve stared searchingly at him for a moment before nodding. "Do not get shot."

Danny gave him a quick smirk and then they were silently filing into the house through the garage. Almost immediately, they found the missing HPD officers. They were most definitely dead. Someone had shot both men in the chest and forehead. Kono bent to check for vital signs anyway. She shook her head.

The team exchanged glances and then Steve nodded and pointed toward the door into the house. The other's nodded and together they moved on.

Danny went in first, checking corners as he went, followed by Steve, then Kono, and Chin watched their backs. Danny held up a hand signaling the others to stop as they cleared the kitchen.

"They're in the dining room."

"Huh? How can you tell?" Steve whispered.

"You can't hear them?" Danny looked confused.

Steve shook his head. "How many?"

Danny looked relieved in the face of Steve's easy acceptance and Chin and Kono just nodded. "Three hostiles. Two of them are definitely Smith and Jones. I recognize their voices. I can hear Grace and Rachel too. They sound okay."

Kono grinned. "That's great, Danny."

He smiled. "You guys ready?"

Danny received three nods in reply and he quietly opened the kitchen door and led them around the corner where they paused for a moment to prepare themselves before swiftly moving into the dining room.

There was a chorus of "5-0" and "freeze" that was quickly followed by gunfire as Romanof turned his gun on Danny and his team. Smith dropped his weapon immediately and Chin moved forward to take it from him, pushing the man against the wall so he could check for concealed weapons and handcuff him. Jones fired a single shot in Steve's direction before Kono and Steve both shot him in the chest and Kono moved quickly to kick his gun away from his hand.

Romanof fired two more shots and ducked behind the heavy wooden dining table that took up much of the room before turning toward Grace and Rachel where they huddled against the wall. He lifted his weapon and then abruptly collapsed, a bullet to the forehead. Danny was across the room in seconds kicking Romanof's gun away and glaring at the dead body.

Steve quickly moved to Rachel and Grace pulling Grace into his arms and taking Rachel's hand to pull her to her feet. He gently herded them out the door and then out of the house, depositing them with Stan and the HPD officers before turning back to the house. He headed back into the house at a run.

"Everybody good?" Steve called as he entered the dining room.

Kono was standing next to Danny with a concerned look on her face. She had holstered her own weapon and held Danny's in one hand. "Chin and I are fine but Danny's just staring into space. I don't think he was hit." She shook his arm. "Danny?"

Steve crossed the room and took his partner by the shoulders gently pushing him back against the wall, away from Romanof's dead body. "Danno? You in there?"

Danny blinked and met Steve's eyes. "What?" He tensed. "Grace? Rachel?" He looked frantically in the direction where they had been minutes ago.

Steve shook him gently to get his attention. "They're okay. I took them outside. What just happened?"

Danny was already trying to pull away. "I need to see her."

Steve let him go and Danny ran out the door.

Chin appeared at his side. "You think he's having side effects from the concussion?"

"Don't know. Could be. Not sure how we're going to talk him into going back to the hospital again though." Steve turned his attention to the dead bodies. "Romanof is definitely dead. Jones too?"

"Yeah, I checked," Chin answered. "He's gone."

"Okay." Steve glanced between Chin and Kono. "Somebody else can process this."

Kono nodded and grabbed Smith, pushing him ahead of her out of the dining room. Chin and Steve followed her.

Back up had arrived while they were still dealing with Romanof and his men, and several officers were moving through the rest of the house to secure the scene as 5-0 left with Smith.

When they got outside, Danny was sitting in the grass next to the police cars with Grace tucked into his arms. Stan and Rachel were sitting next to him alternately holding each other and petting Grace who was crying into Danny's neck.

Steve stopped in front of them while Chin and Kono called for a forensics team and pushed Smith into the back of one of the police cars. "Everybody okay?" Steve asked.

Danny looked up at him. "Yeah, they're okay." He seemed exhausted but coherent so Steve left him alone for the moment.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour later, Rachel and Stan had taken Grace and gone to find a hotel to stay in until their house was no longer an active crime scene.

Danny was leaning against the side of Steve's truck and Steve stopped beside him. "Let me take you back to the hospital."

Danny glared at him. "Um, no."

Steve sighed. "Danny, you have a concussion and now you're randomly zoning out. Something could be really wrong."

"I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Really?"

"I told you, Steve, I'm just really tired."

"I think we both know there was more to it than that."

Danny glared and stubbornly crossed his arms.

"I will handcuff you and drag you to the emergency room."

"All right, all right." Danny half-heartedly waved one hand in the air. "I got kind of stuck for a minute." He winced.

Steve frowned. "What does that even mean?"

Danny sighed. "I was looking at Romanof, just making sure he was really good and dead and I just got kind of pulled in by the details. It was like I could see the individual drops of blood." He shuddered. "That sounds really creepy out loud and also more than a little crazy."

Steve studied his partner quietly for a long moment. "You could hear them earlier too, through the kitchen door."

Danny shrugged. "I'm just surprised Super SEAL couldn't. Maybe you guys need your hearing checked."

"I have excellent hearing, Danny," Steve said seriously. "Have you always been able to hear things like that? Things that other people can't?"

Danny looked uncomfortable. "I'm not crazy."

"I didn't say you were."

"I've always had good hearing and vision but since the car wreck yesterday, it's just been more."

"More what?"

"More everything." Danny's hands moved as he grew agitated. "I can see more, hear more, smell more. It's ridiculous."

Steve just nodded.

"I'm losing it, aren't I?" Danny asked.

Steve smiled. "I don't think so. You should probably go back to the hospital just in case it's the concussion though."

Danny's face scrunched. "You have no idea how awful that was. It was so loud and bright and it smelled terrible."

"That's right, I remember you said it made you nauseous."

Danny nodded. "I just want to go home."

Steve studied his partner for a long moment. "Okay, Danny. I'll take you home." He pushed off of the side of the truck so he could walk around to the driver's side. He got in and waited for Danny to join him. As soon as the other man was settled, Steve turned on the truck and pulled out. "I'm gonna tell you something confidential."

Danny rolled his head along the back of the seat to look at Steve suspiciously. "Is this the sort of confidential thing I actually want to know?"

Steve shot an annoyed glance at his partner.

"Don't give me that face. Some days you are the king of too much information, other days getting two words out of you is like pulling teeth."

Steve huffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Danny snorted. "Sure you don't."

"Anyway, this is about an old mission. I'm not gonna give you lots of details about the where and when. It's not the important part of this story anyway."

"What is the important part of this story that you're not actually going to tell me?"

"I worked with a lot of different people on missions, a wide variety of mission specialists. For this one mission, we were assigned this young captain who was a tracking expert. We were following some bad guys in a heavily forested area. I mean, it was really, really dense. We couldn't see anything and the local fauna made so much noise that we really couldn't hear anything either. This guy though, this captain, he took us straight to the bad guys. None of the rest of us could figure out how he did it. When we asked him, all he would tell us was that he had better than average senses."

"And you think I'm like that, "better than average senses?"'

Steve shrugged. "Maybe. Does it sound right to you?"

"I just think it's hilarious that you've decided it's more likely that I have super senses than that I've just lost my fucking mind."

Steve glared at Danny. "It's not like you were wrong about the number of people in the dining room. And when you and Grace were running, you heard Tolver's name, could give detailed descriptions of them. If they'd ever gotten all that close to you, they would have shot you. So, yes, Danny, I do think heightened senses are more likely than you've gone around the bend."

"I'm not gonna lie, Steven, it's gratifying that you're voting for my sanity here but that explanation just seems far-fetched to me."

"Whatever, man. Brain damage via concussion is the other option. Would you like to change your mind about the hospital?"

Danny dropped his head forward into his hands and groaned. "No, for the last time, no. I want to go home and sleep. I really think all of this weirdness is a result of sleep deprivation. 12 to 14 hours staring at the inside of my eyelids and everything will be fine."

"Ok, ok. But you're sleeping on my couch."

"Steven-."

"This way if you slip into a coma, I at least won't have to break your door down to know."

Danny snickered. "It's sad that you're completely serious about that. Fine, I concede. Anything to keep from having to buy a new front door."

Steve smiled brightly. "Great. That's what I like to hear." The two men rode in silence the rest of the way to Steve's house.

By the time Steve pulled into his driveway, Danny was asleep. He reached out and shook him lightly. "Hey, Danny. We're here."

Danny jolted and stared blearily at Steve for a moment before nodding and climbing out of the truck. Steve watched the other man sway slightly as he waited for Steve to come around and unlock the front door. The last of Danny's energy had clearly abandoned him. Steve got the door opened and ushered his partner into the living room and onto the couch before he could fall asleep standing up. "Good night, Danny."

"Mmm," Danny responded and rolled onto his side.

12 hours later…

"Hey, you're alive," Steve said. He, Kono, and Chin were sitting around Steve's kitchen table as Danny stumbled into the room.

Danny glared at Steve and went straight for the coffee maker. He filled a mug before dropping into the only empty chair at the table.

"Chin and Kono were just about to fill me in on what we missed while you were playing sleeping beauty." Steve leaned back in his chair and grinned at his partner.

"Hmmph," was Danny's only response as he took a big gulp of his coffee.

"Smith is in custody and he and Tolver are being charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, as well as a laundry list of lesser charges. Autopsies are underway for Romanof and Jones, though I doubt they'll have anything new to add. Kono and I managed to get through most of the paperwork last night so as soon as you two add your reports we can close this case." Chin pushed a folder across the table to Steve. "That's everything we've got so far. It just needs your signature."

"Great work, guys." Steve flipped open the folder to scan the contents.

Danny smiled. The world was a brighter place now that he'd had a few sips of coffee. "Yeah, you guys are lifesavers. I don't think I could have stayed awake much longer if I had to."

"You certainly look a lot better than you did yesterday," Kono said.

"Wouldn't take much," Steve added.

"Thanks so much, Steve." Danny drained his remaining coffee before getting to his feet. "I'm going to go check in with Grace."

"He didn't go back to the hospital, did he?" Chin's voice was quiet enough not to carry into the living room.

Steve shook his head. "I really think he's okay though. He's convinced his zone out was because he was so tired." He didn't mention that it was Danny's second episode.

"What do you think?" Kono's face clearly showed her worry.

"I think we'll keep an eye on him and if he has any more problems we'll find a way to make him go back to the doctor but, you know, he could be right about it just being fatigue." Steve flipped the report cover closed and got up. "I really think he'll be okay."

Chin and Kono nodded and headed out, though they both still looked a bit concerned.

Steve helped himself to another cup of coffee and sat back down at the table. He needed to think. Danny seemed convinced that the episodes with his senses were a fluke but Steve wasn't so sure. The zone outs were even more problematic though. If he continued to have those, he'd have to ground Danny from fieldwork until they could figure out what was happening and resolve it.

Or Steve could do some research on his own and see if he could find out what might cause enhanced senses and seeming catatonic episodes. Either way, he'd make certain Danny was okay. 5-0 was family and they'd have Danny's back.

NOTES:

Thanks so much for reading and a special thank you to everyone who reviewed or added this story to their alert list! You've been really encouraging! I'm planning to turn this into a series and part 2 is well underway.


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